Envisage a future where machines can intelligently work in tandem with human beings! This future is not mere imagination but a combination of two most pertinent technologies of today- Artificial Intelligence(AI) and the Internet of Things(IoT).
Artificial intelligence(AI) deals with the creation of a system that can perform tasks emulating human beings using their prior experience. AI makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, acclimate to new inputs and think intelligently. On the other hand, the Internet of Things(IoT) is a system of interconnected objects that collect and transfer data over a wireless network. It generates a tremendous amount of data that need to be collected and mined for actionable results. Now that’s where AI comes into the picture!
AI-enabled IoT creates intelligent machines that simulate smart behaviour and espouse in decision making with little or no human intervention. While IoT deals with devices interacting over the internet, AI makes the device learn from the data obtained.
Why Artificial Intelligence of Things?
IoT uses the internet to communicate, collect and exchange information. Every day more than 1 Billion GB of data is generated. By 2025, it is estimated to be about 42 billion IoT connected device globally. Device number grows hence the data too. IoT collects and handles the huge amount of data that is required by the AI algorithms. These algorithms convert the data into useful actionable results. IoT devices in turn implement these results developed. IoT is the body and AI the brains which together can create wonders. Thus, a powerful combination of IoT and AI can transform industries by helping them make intelligent decisions from the growth of data every day.
Cloud computing provided three key aspects to connected systems – connectivity, storage, and compute. Since IoT is an always-on architecture, cloud computing enabled devices seem always connected to each other. They communicate via sending machine to machine(M2M) messages. Other than that, these devices send telemetry data to store centrally in the cloud. By combining AI with industrial IoT, we add an important ability to connected systems – Act. Thus, AI provides transcendent features by acting on the patterns and correlations from the telemetry data. It curbs the critical gap by taking appropriate actions based on the data. AI essentially becomes the brain of the connected systems by closing the loop by automatically taking an action instead of just presenting the facts to humans to enable them to act.
The major AIoT segments
The combination of AI and IoT brings us AIoT – Artificial Intelligence of Things – that delivers intelligent connected systems capable of self-correcting and self-healing themselves which inturn has wide applications. There are many different applications that require artificial intelligence and IoT together. Some of these are as follows:
1. Wearables
Wearables continuously track human habits and preferences. It plays a vital role in the health sector as well as has impactful application in sports and fitness. There are many features that define today’s wearables – increased functionality, lighter and less bulky hardware, seamless user experience and improved connectivity. Thus, combining AI and IoT can ameliorate its functionality by taking necessary steps intelligently when at the time of need.
2. Smart homes
Houses can respond to the user’s wishes and demands. Smart homes can control appliances, lighting, electronic devices and more, learning the home owner’s habits, thus providing a complete automated system. However, with the introduction of artificial intelligence in IoT devices such as Alexa that can learn the patterns of behaviours in users, more homes will see the combination of both to induce a greater experience of living.
3. Smart cities
Smart cities can be created with networks of sensors attaching to the physical city infrastructure. Artificial Intelligence combined with IoT has the potential to address key challenges of urban population including traffic management, healthcare, energy crises, and many other issues. Moreover, it can improve the lives of the citizens and businesses that inhabit a smart city.
4. Digital twins
They are twin objects where one is a digital replica of a real-world object. Digital twins can analyze the performance of objects without using the traditional testing methods and thus reduces the cost of testing. Basically, digital twins integrate IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics with a graphic and/or spatial representation to make animate digital simulation models that change and develop as their physical counterpart does.
5. Smart retailing
AIoT is widely applicable for the cases of smart retailing. AI and IoT can send real time personalized offers to the customers by understanding the customer behavior, consumer online profile etc.
The Future Ahead
Taken together, AI and IoT are paving into a new era where ‘smart’ is just the normal state of living. The convergence of AI and IoT will redefine the future of industrial automation. There are multiple forces which are driving the growing need for both technologies. For instance, AI with IoT can assay human behaviour via Bluetooth signals, motion sensors, or facial-recognition technology and also make the necessary changes in lighting, room temperatures etc.
The application of certain methods in AI such as deep learning- neural networks, can predict anomalies in the data obtained. Current IoT systems are designed to react to an event while AIoT systems can proactively detect failures and events. Moreover, The infusion of AI in IoT systems delivers the promise of predictive maintenance which will help organizations save millions of dollars in support and maintenance of equipment. Artificial Intelligence of Things will impact almost every industry including automotive, aviation, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and supply chain.
